Maldy's glove

[dacbrewers]

I watched the entire game yesterday a couple times...yes I didn't have anything better to do. I think the small catcher's glove that he uses, costs our pitchers strikes, plus he dropped a couple of third strike foul tips. I think it hurts framing pitches. Anyone else notice this?

[stoutdude04]

Is it actually smaller than others though? I really don't know. I think part of the issue was that yesterdays ump wasn't great, but he also moves around a lot. When that happens the ump doesnt see the ball as well(not that it is an excuse to miss strike calls, but it does happen).

[JohnBriggs12]

He does lose strikes for his pitchers. One way he does it is by coming out of his stance to throw as he does often. He also loses pitches when he sets up inside and the pitcher misses the spot but still hits the zone on the outer half. He'd be better off not setting up off the plate so much. All catchers do this to some extent but he does it more often it seems. Dropping pitches loses strikes too and he drops quite a few.

[3and2Fastball]

Martin is throwing out 30% of base stealers this year and league average is 27% .... doesn't seem worth it to sacrifice strikes for pop time, but are we sure that is what is going on?

[And That]

StatCorner has Maldonado as decent pitch framer FWIW. It appears he has slipped some this year. He's also generally been slightly above average in throwing out runners.

 

The Brewers' TV booth oversells his defense quite a bit, though.

[Devinep]

Because Maldonado is a known commodity, why not give Pina more time? He's earned playing time and there's a slight chance he shows he's worth starting for a couple seasons

[QuevedosTongue]

StatCorner has Maldonado as decent pitch framer FWIW. It appears he has slipped some this year. He's also generally been slightly above average in throwing out runners.

 

The Brewers' TV booth oversells his defense quite a bit, though.

 

Baseball Prospectus has Martin as a 'negative framer'; he costs his pitchers strikes.

 

I think it is a generalization with catchers that can't hit and can throw. People assume they are good defensively. Also, managers tend to get really comfortable with certain backup catchers for some reason.

[And That]

Baseball Prospectus has Martin as a 'negative framer'; he costs his pitchers strikes.

BP has him a little negative this year, but he's always been positive at the major league level before this season. I don't know what an appropriate sample size is for pitch framing, but I would venture to guess sample size error is part of the reason for the BP calculation's negative take on him so far. I think it is probably fair to say he's not doing as well this year as he has in the past, but I do not think it is fair to say he's all of the sudden bad at pitch framing. The conclusive evidence of that seems to be lacking.

[Austin Tatious]

I'd be interested in looking at Pina and Susac at catcher next year. Nottingham with his double digit errors and double digit passed balls can get another crack at Biloxi. He's still young.

 

Martin does seem to have a leadership charisma about him. I don't just mean because he will cold cock someone in a fight. He's got a toughness and presence about him that looks obvious (without me being in the clubhouse). Sometimes, these traits can be significant even if not quantifiable.

 

It's not the same thing at all, but as analogy, the Bucks allowed Dudley and Pachulia go, and their record fell off a cliff. Pachulia does not have Monroe's stats, but he defends and does the little things that lead to wins. It's different because Martin can't hit a lick, but we may miss some of the chemistry issues. Having said all that, I would like to see Susac up here and Pina can hit.

[Greenleaf1]

I think Maldy is a reliable backup, nobody in Milwaukee thinks he will keep the majority of the playing time for long, especially not by the end of the rebuild, but he's earned this chance to prove himself now that Luc is gone, and if you take out his hitless slump at the beginning of the season, he's actually not that bad offensively this season.

 

I'm pretty high on Pina, and would like to see him get more playing time, but I think he'll get the chance eventually. Let Pina/Susac/Maldy battle it out in Spring Training next year. None of them are the heir apparent.

[Crash2303]

I wonder if a contributing reason they are starting Maldonado over Pina is to give him an opportunity to boost his value to other teams to be traded in the offseason. He's a FA after 2018, so that would give a team 2 years of team control. Maldy can start on some teams...ie ours lol. But, I don't think he offers much more (if any) than some combo of Pina/Susac (or even Pinto/McKenry added to the mix if they are re-signed) would offer for the next two years. If Maldy does get traded- the other guys will have opportunities in the spring and season (rotating the hot-hand) to show what they can do.

 

re: his glove- in spite of advanced metrics, especially for catchers, its interesting how much defensive reputation and perception plays into a catcher's defensive rating by fans and clubs. I still remember that throw off his knees- wow. it had such a large impression on me- when I think of Maldonado- I think of him in context to that throw. http://m.brewers.mlb.com/mil/video/topic/6482152/v589665283

 

I think same goes for "clutch hits" and who clutch players are- they leave much bigger impressions.

 

However, I don't pay much attention to CS% in any given season, because so much has to do with who is pitching and their long or slow deliveries, which are sometimes just as significant to baserunners as a catcher's arm.

[igor67]

It's also possible that the league has improved its framing substantially. Early in his career Lucroy and a few others posted huge numbers relative to the league, which seems to have gotten much harder to do.

[LouisEly]

ESPN.com has 58 catchers listed as having at least 100 PAs this year, or roughly two per team. Maldy currently ranks 33rd. Offensively he's one of the best backup catchers in the league.

[monty57]

ESPN.com has 58 catchers listed as having at least 100 PAs this year, or roughly two per team. Maldy currently ranks 33rd. Offensively he's one of the best backup catchers in the league.

 

That's fine as long as he's the backup. If he's the starter, it means that offensively he's probably the worst starting catcher in the league.

 

Since he'll make a seven figure salary next year and probably won't be any better than our other options, I'd like to see Pina and Susec as our catchers next year, but I won't be upset if Martin is still around. Having three guys that can play at the MLB level (one at AAA) isn't a bad thing.

[Roderick]

ESPN.com has 58 catchers listed as having at least 100 PAs this year, or roughly two per team. Maldy currently ranks 33rd. Offensively he's one of the best backup catchers in the league.

 

That's fine as long as he's the backup. If he's the starter, it means that offensively he's probably the worst starting catcher in the league.

 

You need to check out what some teams trot out there as there starting catcher sometime. Even some very good teams have had catchers that are having an awful offensive season, Cleveland this year and the Dodgers in years past...

 

There are at least six catchers that have more than 200 ab's this season that are hitting worse than Maldy.

[And That]

MLB catchers collectively have an OPS of about 700 this year. Maldonado's OPS is about 670. Not that terrible.

[monty57]

ESPN.com has 58 catchers listed as having at least 100 PAs this year, or roughly two per team. Maldy currently ranks 33rd. Offensively he's one of the best backup catchers in the league.

 

That's fine as long as he's the backup. If he's the starter, it means that offensively he's probably the worst starting catcher in the league.

 

You need to check out what some teams trot out there as there starting catcher sometime. Even some very good teams have had catchers that are having an awful offensive season, Cleveland this year and the Dodgers in years past...

 

There are at least six catchers that have more than 200 ab's this season that are hitting worse than Maldy.

 

I understand that. I was just stating that if he's 33rd, that means there are 32 better than him, and there are only 30 teams in the majors. I understand where we are as a team right now, and that we won't have good players at every position, but that just makes me more interested in seeing what one of the pre-arby guys can do. If we have a position with a question mark, all other things being equal, they should fill that position with a younger, cheaper guy.

 

Pina is only a year younger (Maldonado's 30, Pina 29), but Maldonado is in year one arby making $1.125M, while Pina is still in his fist pre-arby year, and Susac is 26 with one year's service time. I personally think both Susec and Pina could do better than Maldonado, but even if they all project to provide equal value, Maldonado should be the odd-man out unless they decide to keep either Pina or Susec in AAA next year.

[reillymcshane]

Perhaps this is just an illusion, but it seems the team and the pitchers really like working with Maldonado the catcher. And as we continue to try and develop our young pitchers, I have a feeling that trust in Maldonado is going to keep him in Milwaukee for a while. The org is going to feel he'll be best at helping the young guys develop. Perhaps I'm wrong about this.

[jerichoholicninja]

Perhaps this is just an illusion, but it seems the team and the pitchers really like working with Maldonado the catcher. And as we continue to try and develop our young pitchers, I have a feeling that trust in Maldonado is going to keep him in Milwaukee for a while. The org is going to feel he'll be best at helping the young guys develop. Perhaps I'm wrong about this.

 

From my TV watching eye it seems like Maldonado is more "in the game" than Lucroy ever was. You constantly see Martin barking out orders to the infield, going to the mound, and throwing to bases. Lucroy was very low key and it doesn't mean he wasn't a leader but just from what you see on TV Martin looks like he's more in control than Lucroy ever was.

[MrTPlush]

Perhaps this is just an illusion, but it seems the team and the pitchers really like working with Maldonado the catcher. And as we continue to try and develop our young pitchers, I have a feeling that trust in Maldonado is going to keep him in Milwaukee for a while. The org is going to feel he'll be best at helping the young guys develop. Perhaps I'm wrong about this.

 

From my TV watching eye it seems like Maldonado is more "in the game" than Lucroy ever was. You constantly see Martin barking out orders to the infield, going to the mound, and throwing to bases. Lucroy was very low key and it doesn't mean he wasn't a leader but just from what you see on TV Martin looks like he's more in control than Lucroy ever was.

 

Yah I feel like Lucroy prioritized his offensive game over being a game manager. Maldonado is a lot more passionate about perfecting his defense.

[clancyphile]

I think that Maldonado's not who I'd keep on the 40-man this winter.

 

Great backup for Lucroy, but not a starter, and I'd rather go with Pina, Pinto, and Susac for the short-term (through 2018).

[Greenleaf1]

Maldy will go through arbitration and make potentially 1.5-2M next year after making 1M this year. I was originally thinking that he'd battle it out in Spring Training with Susac/Pina/Pinto but maybe he's a non-tender candidate depending on how September goes.

 

If Maldy continues to get most of the playing time in September, he'll definitely make it to Spring Training 2017, but if playing time starts to go to Pina (and Susac if he gets called up in September which apparently is possible now that he's coming back from injury), then who knows.

 

My bet is that Maldy is the backup next year no matter what, and then Pina/Susac battle it out for starter in spring training.

[Ennder]

I don't know what we will do with him but he is having a sneaky improvement year at the plate that nobody is really noticing because of the low average.

 

His K/BB rate has improved, he is pulling the ball less, he is hitting the ball harder on average, he is popping out less. For whatever reason it is translating into the lowest BABIP of his career when these things should be improving it. If he were hitting even the .234 of 2014 he'd have a roughly .365 OBP and an OPS in the .725 range.

 

It won't surprise me if he is a Carlos Ruiz type who suddenly has a couple decent offensive years in his early 30s after being a no hit catcher most of his career.

[jerichoholicninja]

Most of Maldanado's mistakes are being too aggressive with his arm. Like his stupid throw while falling down last night that cost a base. He's like a high school catcher that can throw 90 MPH and thinks he can throw anybody out whenever he wants so he makes stupid throws and but just winds up hurting his team.